Returning To You
by black-labrador
Summary: Hitomi has changed into a bitter, hurt young woman after 4 years without a sign from Van. Will she ever see him again? And if she does... Will it be the same? V/H!
1. Chapter 1

Hello

Hello!

I have never written an Escaflowne fanfic before, so I'm sorry if it turns out all wrong or you hate it, please don't flame me! (although I have never been flamed, which is good so far… touch wood)

I really hope you like this, don't worry it will be Van and Hitomi together! There will be fluff, there may be more than fluff, but I can tell you I'm really enjoying writing this so far! 

Anyway… On with the story… (and I don't own these characters, as everyone knows, so I don't really see the point in disclaimers… this will be my only one for this fic)

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Hitomi Kanzaki opened her eyes. She had been awake for several minutes by now, as she did every morning, hoping that she would wake up and see him. Whether he was in the room, in a picture, by her bed, _in_ her bed… it didn't matter. She just wanted to see him.

She rolled onto her side. There was a man in her bed. Hitomi blinked, but it wasn't Van. She had known that last night when she went to bed with… what was his name again? It didn't even matter. For the last 4 years she spent most of her time thinking about Van, missing him and mourning the life they could have shared together. She was bitter in her heart that at the last moment in Gaea she had practically asked Van if she could stay. He had said that it would make him very happy, but then what did he do? He held up his stupid energist and sent her back to Earth. It was so sudden, and Hitomi had never forgiven Van for rejecting her like that.

Using the Atlantean pendant she had given him, he allowed her to see him twice, maybe three times before the visits stopped. He had given no reason, and even since then she had been the bitter, heartbroken Hitomi everyone knew but few loved.

Hitomi sat up feeling disgusted with herself. She didn't even want to sleep with these men - she just wanted Van. For her, there was no-one else. Nobody could replace that moody, arrogant, stubborn boy who would now have become a man, Hitomi realised. She put on a long shirt and went to the kitchen to get some water. She was incredibly thirsty and her head pounded a little. 'Damn bars,' she grumbled mentally.

She heard a grunt from the bedroom and realised that that guy must be up. He popped his head around the door. "Do you mind if I take a shower?" He asked. He was very good looking, and well built.

"Do what you want. I have to go out." Hitomi replied coldly. "Lock the door when you leave and don't even think about stealing anything." 'Not that there's anything worth stealing anyway,' she added in her head.

"Er… ok? Well it was nice knowing you, if you know what I mean… We should do it again sometime, princess."

What a sleazeball. Hitomi thought she might be sick if she heard him speak again. All she wanted was to be with Van. What was the use of having grown up into a stunning young woman if the one you wanted to share yourself with was inaccessible?

The man went to the bathroom and Hitomi quickly dressed. She felt disgusting but she wanted to get out of her tiny apartment, to somewhere she could think.

It was spring, and the morning was nice and cool. She went to the nearby park, where only joggers and dog-walkers were out at this time of the morning. She lay on the dewy grass, not caring that it was wet, and stared into the sky. She imagined that she was on Gaea, doing the same thing, and saw the Earth and the moon hanging in the sky. She closed her eyes, and a soft breeze caressed her body. _'Van'_ She thought desperately. She missed him every second, every moment regretted not being able to stay and, more strongly, she felt angry with Van for making her leave. She tried to picture his face. It had been so long now. Why hadn't he tried to get in contact with her? She wouldn't think twice about leaving Earth permanently. She had no family left, very few friends, and tried to take comfort in awful guys who only wanted her because she was gorgeous. Hitomi knew that Van wasn't like that, that the love they used to share had been real, more passionate and more painfully unfulfilled than anything she had ever known, before or since her time in Gaea.

She wished again, as she had done so many times, that she was back with Van. Knowing that she didn't have her pendant prevented her wish from being fulfilled, and Hitomi started to cry in self pity and shame for being unfaithful to her love for Van. "Van!" She whispered, anguished. "I need you so much!" Her eyes blurred with tears again as she looked away from the sky. She knew Gaea was out there somewhere beyond the moon, invisible to the human eye.

She sat up again. "Hitomi, you're 19 years old. You're way too old to be sitting in the park crying!" Even as she said the words, more tears came out. Why couldn't she go back? Why had Van not come to see her at all, or wished her back? She felt as though her heart would burst.

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I know it's really short, but I wanted to start a fresh chapter for the next bit. Think of this as a prologue…

Please read and review!

Ja ne!

Black-Labrador-chan


	2. Chapter 2

Van couldn't take it any more

**Chapter 2**

Van couldn't take it any more.

Merle had really overstepped the boundaries this time. Did she not know by now that the only one he loved was Hitomi? These girls that Merle was trying the thrust upon him her repulsive in his eyes, though not to any other man in Fanelia, and Van wanted nothing to do with them.

He stood up and left the table in a huff. Even kings get in huffs sometimes. He entered his bedroom. A drawing he had done of Hitomi was pinned to his wall, worn at the edges from handling. Van's heart dropped. The pendant around his neck grew bright, and he had a vision. It was Hitomi. She was crying, lying on some grass. Van's heart ached with desire as he saw how beautiful she was. He saw her every time she called his name, and she was usually crying. **"Van! I need you so much!"** she cried, and he heard the anguish in her voice, saw the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hitomi…" Van whispered, wishing for the millionth time that he had never sent her away. He was a popular king, and he had grown into a handsome, tall and lean man. This inevitably led to a lot of female attention, but he didn't return the interest. All he wanted was to find a way of bringing Hitomi back. He sat on his bed, then lay back and stared at the ceiling. The rebuilt castle of Fanelia was beautiful, laid out almost exactly the same way as it had been before. But a new addition was a room adjoining his, and he opened the door.

It was Hitomi's room. He had specially built it for her, for when he managed to bring her back. But before they could share a room, he wanted to get to know her again, make sure they were still in love, or whether it had been a childish, extended infatuation made bigger by distance.

Hitomi clearly thought about him a lot. He saw her all the time, but although she had noticed him the first few times, she didn't seem to be able to see him any more. She obviously hadn't stopped thinking about or loving him, but why couldn't she see him? He wanted to let her know she was in his thoughts too!

Van wrapped his arms around himself. He wanted to feel her there with him, in his arms. He extended his wings from his back, and wrapped them around himself too. Why couldn't she be there?

Those four years ago in that moment in the graveyard, she had meant everything to him. He mentally kicked himself every day for raising Escaflowne's energist and sending her back. But he didn't realise it was going to be a permanent arrangement. He had thought that she could still wish to come back, rejoin him in his newly rebuilt kingdom of Fanelia, and someday… become his queen.

Her face flashed into his mind again, those beautiful green eyes, unmatched by anyone in his whole kingdom, or even his world. He knew he had to get her back.

Van returned to the meal a few minutes later and rejoined Merle and her annoying girls. He was in a significantly better mood. He had a plan to get Hitomi back. Everyone noticed the change in his demeanour, and everyone except Merle thought that he was simply lightening up. The girl on his right hand side was particularly happy, as he had only said a few words to her all evening and replied in nods or grunts.

Finally the meal was over. The servants cleared the plates, and Van stood up. "Thank you all for coming this evening, I hope you have enjoyed yourselves. Now, please feel free to stay for tea or coffee and talk amongst yourselves, but I am sorry to say I must excuse myself from your presence." He nodded his head to the table and left in the direction of his chambers.

But he didn't go there.

He went out to his family's burial/memorial site and took a small key from his pocket. Even as he did it he thought he was crazy.

Van opened the small metal box, hidden by bushes behind his brother's grave. "Thank you for guarding this for me, Folken," he whispered to the stone. Inside the box was the energist. Van picked it up and turned around. He saw the Ispano Guymelef Escaflowne kneeling in the clearing, shaded by trees. "Not today, Escaflowne," Van smiled at his melef.

He took off the pendant from around his neck, and looked at what he had in his hands. When Hitomi was there, when her pendant and Escaflowne had come close in a time when a wish was made, a pink light shone from the energist and the pendant. He stood up straighter, not believing that he hadn't thought of it before, and wished harder than he had ever wished, that he could be with Hitomi again.

He didn't feel any different after 2 minutes of having his eyes screwed shut. He opened them, somehow expecting to have Hitomi standing in front of him in the forest graveyard, but she wasn't there. But then again, he wasn't in the forest graveyard anymore either.

Merle simply looked out across the clearing and watched him do it.

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Hitomi returned to her flat to find the guy had gone. He had left a note on the side: _"Great night last night, will see you again for sure, Miss Kanzaki! Love Amano"_

Oh, his name was Amano, was it? That reminded Hitomi of her old school track idol, her first crush. But they all paled in comparison to Van. She went into the bathroom and took off her clothes. Stepping into the shower it was still steamy, as though he hadn't left so long ago. She turned the shower on and relished in the clean water, washing away her sins and her sorrow.

It was only 8.30 when she was fully ready. Hitomi realised that she must have been up for a couple of hours already. She put on her work clothes, grabbed an old-looking apple and headed out the door, locking in behind her.

Hitomi was working as a waitress by day and a fortune-teller by night. The waitress job gave her something to do all day, and it was good, steady money in her pocket. Hitomi had vowed never to do fortune telling again, after everything that happened on Gaea because of it, but so many people insisted that she do a reading for them, it only seemed logical for them to pay her. Hitomi was barely getting by as it was.

Then again, she thought bitterly, I can still spare enough to go out some nights. Even if it is just to forget Van.

Her day passed smoothly after her rough morning, and because she put on such a friendly face, she usually got a lot of tips. Today more than usual. "Ok, sir, my shift's over now, can I leave?" She asked sweetly to her manager who secretly but not-very-secretly had a crush on her.

"Yes, go, but make sure you're on time tomorrow or I'll have to fire you!"

"You'll do no such thing, you need me too much!" She laughed, hung up her apron and left the café, her smile dropping off her face the moment she left. It was getting dark now, but then again it was never truly dark in Tokyo. She went to a small diner for a light supper and a drink. She had her tarot cards in her bag, and when she sat in a fairly private booth she took them out and did a reading for herself.

'What's this?!' Hitomi thought. 'A journey, adventure, confusion, hope… The Lovers…' But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't work out what the cards were saying.

Quickly changing her mind about what she wanted, she called the waitress. "Just coffee to go, please, white one sugar."

With the warm polystyrene cup in her hands she walked out of the café, straight into someone.

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Van looked around him. He had wished to see Hitomi, so she must be around her somewhere, but where? There were so many people, this place was more crowded that even the Asturian markets! He looked down at his clothes and realised that what he was wearing was really odd-looking. He also realised that it had been 4 years since he saw her, and she most likely wouldn't be wearing the same thing, that weird uniform, as before.

He cursed himself for his stupidity – he really hadn't thought this through enough. Gods, he was so rash sometimes! The area was so alien to him, so full of strange shining lights, which he knew weren't candles, and the buildings were so tall! He looked around, trying to spot her. If he had teleported here, it must mean she was there!

Becoming more frantic he examined every face, and the more he looked the more he saw people stared at him. Oh… nobody else was wearing a sword, or holding a large pink ball in their hand. He tried to put the ball in his pocket and failed, then put the pendant back around his neck. He half knew how Hitomi felt in her uniform in Gaea, now.

No time for that! He scolded himself. "Hitomi!" He shouted, trying to make his voice heard above the noise of the streets. It was so loud, so bright, he was so disorientated…

Van turned around and walked past a shop of some sort. People were sitting eating or drinking, and Van recognised the writing on the windows and walls to be the same script as in Atlantis! So, they really must have some from here. Scanning the crowd again, he looked for her face. He couldn't see it anywhere.

Van started to despair, knowing that he was so close but so far from her! He stopped in front of the warm, inviting shop, looked back at the street and headed up the few steps, with the intention of going in.

At that moment someone collided into him, a girl no less, with a cup of hot something. Oh god, it was really hot!

"Ah!" Van exclaimed as the drink spilled down his shirt.

"Oh!" Hitomi gasped as she realised what she had done. Then she saw the pendant. "Where did you get this?" She grabbed it in her hand. "That's –"

Van stopped noticing the scorching pain of the coffee and looked at the girl. It was Hitomi. "Hitomi." He cut her off mid-sentence when she touched the pendant, and she looked into his face. A look of recognition and shock was displayed on it.

"Oi! Move out of the way! People trying to get in and out here!" And angry man shoved Hitomi from behind and she fell into Van's arms.

"Van? Can it really be you?" Hitomi started to cry, there in the street. Women turned around and looked badly at Van, but he didn't care. He wrapped his arms tighter around his love, and led her away from the café.

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Wow, I think that was my longest chapter ever! This story is just coming straight to me… Yays!

Please read and review it would mean a lot to know that people want to read/like my story!

B-L


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A little bit of an up-and-down in this chapter, folks! But it had to be done.

Please read and review! I really appreciate it if you would take a minute to tell me what you think…

Chapter 3

Van quickly rounded a corner with Hitomi under his arm. It was slightly less crowded here, and having absolutely no idea where he was he didn't want to go too far from the main street.

"Hitomi, look at me." He gently whispered. She lifted her eyes to his, but the tears wouldn't stop, she couldn't see him properly.

"Van… Oh Van I've missed you so much!" She sobbed, clutching his strong body to hers. She breathed in his scent, the grassy, earthy musk she had missed for four years. It reminded her of Gaea and her brief but incredible time there. "But how…?" She questioned gently, between her subsiding sobs.

"I couldn't bear it any more. I missed you so much, Hitomi! I found a way to you!" Van stroked her hair. It was a lot longer then he remembered, and he liked it. He held her closer. "Do you need to take anything with you?" He asked softly.

"Wha-? What do you mean?" She looked up at him.

"I mean to take you back to Gaea with me, Hitomi."

"But…"

"Don't you want to return with me?" Van felt his heart drop, as it had earlier that day in his chambers. "Come back to Gaea with me, Hitomi."

"Let's go back to my apartment and we'll talk about it ok?" She tugged his arm in the right direction. "It's not far."

Hitomi linked her fingers with his as they walked the short distance to her building.

Van looked around them; he had never seen such a place. There were… carriages of some sort, moving without horses or any sort of animal. There were so many lights of different colours, in patterns he had never seen. The whole place was so alien to him. The two previous trips to Earth, he had only seen a track field and a temple, nothing as bright or noisy as this… The noise! How could she stand it? There was a constant roar of noise, made by the multitudes of people and strange vehicles. It was unbearable to Van, and he started to get a headache.

"Here we are," said Hitomi after a short walk. "Home, I suppose." She sighed. Van could tell that she was unhappy here and longed to let his wings erupt, and fly up into the sky back to Gaea with Hitomi in his strong arms.

Hitomi unlocked and opened the door, after trying to stop Van freaking out in the lift (elevator for those Americans reading this…). Van studied the apartment. It was sparsely furnished; a lack of care for her surroundings was evident to him. It was more and more clear that Hitomi was really unhappy on Earth.

He looked back into the living room, and Hitomi was clearing some debris off the sofa to allow them room to sit. "Come over, you don't have to stand in the doorway all evening you know!"

Van walked over to her, and took her in his arms. His heart soared with happiness that she was here, and by her pulse he could sense that she was excited.

They sat down together, arms still entwined. On the sofa, alone and in very close proximity, Hitomi and Van just stared into each other's eyes. So slowly it was almost unnoticeable, they closed the distance between them. Their noses were almost touching.

Hitomi couldn't believe that he was really there. She had been waiting for this moment for… forever really. Her chest felt tight with all the emotion she felt - her love for Van, her happiness that he was there with her, the excitement that she could go back to Gaea… The guilt of the extent of her betrayal to Van…

A tear fell down her cheek again. Van felt the mood change from increasingly sexually charged to upset. "What's wrong…?" He asked.

"Why did you stop coming to see me?" She looked at him accusingly. "Van, it's been four long years, and I saw you only 2 or 3 times! Why are you coming now after you stopped caring? Why did you leave me all alone! I was so alone!" She threw Van's hands off her, stood up, and wrapped her arms around herself. Her emotions bubbled over. The pain of being alone for so long was unbearable. "You made me come back here to this wretched place… I wanted to stay in Gaea! You sent me back! Didn't you want me?"

"…Hitomi…" Van tried, and failed, to hold her again. "I came to see you every time you called my name and more… After the first few times, you didn't see me any more, I don't know why! But I saw you. I was watching through so many things, I even saw you today damn it!" Van stood up to meet her. "You were lying on some grass, crying… You called out my name and I was there… Hitomi all this time I've seen you, never been able to hold you or touch you, it's been unbearable!"

Van took a step towards her and closed the distance between them. He looked down at her with those deep, mahogany-red eyes, so intense and full of love and sorrow. He held her upper arms tightly with his strong, calloused hands so unused to touching women.

"Hitomi. Listen to me. I haven't gone a week without seeing you – and I've thought about you every single day! Don't doubt my feelings towards you!" Van was close to exploding with his feelings. "Hitomi… I've loved you all along!"

His hold on her arms tightened, but she broke free from him, feeling more shame every second for doubting his love towards her. She turned her back on him.

"Van… I've wanted to hear you say that for so long…"

He touched her shoulder, turning her around to face him again. Before she knew what was happening, she felt the touch of his lips upon hers, lightly at first, then more strongly when she started to respond. Hitomi reached up and entwined her fingers in his soft hair, her other hand caressing his neck. His hands reached around her back, lovingly stroking and exploring her body. She felt him open his mouth a little, and then their tongues were touching, exploring each other's mouths and bringing their kiss onto another level.

Van thought he would explode with happiness. He had waited for this moment ever since he fell in love with her all that time ago in Gaea…

But something was different with her. She was taking the lead in their liaison. Had she -?

Van broke the kiss and stepped back. He felt a little out of breath with excitement but there were more pressing matters. Hitomi opened her eyes, realising that something was wrong. "Van?"

"I'm going to ask you directly, and I want an honest answer." He looked directly at her, with his piercing eyes. "Have you been with another man?"

Hitomi was speechless. Her eyes widened, and a blush spread across her face. She felt ashamed, but defiant. "Have you been with another woman?" She replied.

"I asked first." Van retorted, rather childishly.

"I don't care. Answer me first."

Van took a breath. "No, I haven't. I knew from the moment I let you go that I would get you back. It took four long years for me to work out how, four years during which I have never even thought about another woman besides you. If that makes me less of a man in your eyes then so be it. I have never stopped thinking of you, and I don't regret a moment, bar sending you back here." Van replied honestly, with all the passion he could muster. "Now, you answer me."

Hitomi had to sit down. She had no idea that he would have done that for her, and felt even worse, if it was possible. She couldn't meet his eyes; she didn't want to see his reaction to her next words. "Yes, Van, I have been with another man." _'Men,'_ she added in her head.

Van's vision blurred a little with the revelation. He had suspected it sometimes from his visions of her, but the intensity of her love for him in virtually all of the images of her made him believe that she had held out for him, too.

"I… I feel so stupid…" Van now turned his back on Hitomi. He felt a dead weight on his body, the despair of his emotions weighing him down.

Hitomi stood again and wrapped her arms around him from behind, and he tried to struggle out of her embrace. "No, Van! Hear me out! Please!" She was crying afresh. He stopped struggling but didn't relax into her arms.

"I never stopped thinking about you. You must know that from the visions you had of me. I thought… I thought that after I stopped seeing you, you had forgotten about me… Then my parents died in a car accident, my little brother was with them too, and I was meant to be with them on that journey! You have no idea how many times I wished I wasn't on this planet! I thought you had forsaken me, Van! I had no one! I wished that I had been with them in the car… Just so I wouldn't have to be alone any more! Can't you understand that? I wanted to be with you, forever, there's nothing here for me in this Godforsaken place. But I thought that you didn't love me any more… That man I slept with, he meant nothing! I've never stopped thinking about you, loving you… I was so alone…" Hitomi couldn't continue. It was too painful. Suddenly she felt as though all of the strength was removed from her body, and she collapsed onto the sofa, crying and sobbing, she could barely breathe through her emotion.

"Van! Say something!" She gasped.

Van was in inner turmoil. He could sense the truth in what she was saying, he saw the hopelessness of her situation, and he realised that even though it wasn't his fault, his apparent neglect and her loneliness had driven her to give up on her only love.

"Come home with me, Hitomi. You can't stay here." He looked at her with his sad, garnet eyes brimming with tears. "I came back to get you and you're coming with me." He sat down beside her, not yet forgiving her for her betrayal, but understanding. He pulled her into an embrace, and she fell into his arms, unable to resist. He cradled her, rocking back and forth, stroking her hair, calming her sobs.

"Will you come with me, Hitomi?" He whispered.

"Anywhere, Van…" Hitomi replied, her voice muffled by both his shirt and her exhaustion.

"Do you need anything?"

"I'll pack my things." She staggered to her feet, and picked up an empty duffel bag.

Hitomi entered her room for the last time. She packed some clothes, her basics, her tarot cards, and a picture album of her family.

"Done?" Came Van's voice from the doorway.

"Done," replied Hitomi, and together they left her apartment building for Gaea, in a bright column of blue light.

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Wow that was another long chapter (well, for me! I know others write longer but this is a big step for me!)

I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it (apart from the fight… That upset me a lot…)

Please R&R!!

B-L xXx


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